Doing your own "background" check on prospective buyers

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stumpers

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I know many of you deal with other individuals to buy and sell firearms. At what point do you, as a seller, decline to sell to someone?

This is more for people in states with access to online court records that are instantly searchable for cases - both criminal and civil.

Would you decline a sale from someone who has a non-felonious criminal history? Too many traffic tickets? DWI? Unpaid child support? Divorce? Misdemeanor criminality, but not something that is federally prohibitive?

A guy from Armslist recently declined to sell me a rifle due to a couple old "ordinance violations" on my court history. In Wisconsin that's an offense that is labeled non-criminal right on the record and carries a small forfeiture, no jail time (traffic tickets, noise complaints, etc.)

He also made reference to my divorce and brought up the Lautenberg Amendment - which clearly does not pertain to civil proceedings.

I have a UPIN, CCL and no criminal convictions (misdemeanor or felony). The sale to me was a non-issue.
 
If they pass the smell test I don't see why not.

I'd rather you not peek into my personal life and I won't peek into yours.

The guy brought up your divorce? My next contact would have had a few not so nice words and ending with a less polite way to say 'pound sand'

Everyone I've ever met selling a gun has been kind profession and just nice people in general.
 
What business is it of yours? If you really have that much trepidation selling a gun to an individual, just sell them to your local gun shop.

Why does everyone suddenly feel they have a right or even a need to do background checks? Do you check the background of someone you are selling a car to to look for DUIs?
 
The only time I ever bought a firearm from another private individual, I was a LEO, and so was he (though he was from another agency and we did not know each other beforehand.)

I think I'd be fine with selling one to someone who, as it has been put, passed my "sniff test." I have yet to sell one to a private individual, though, and, because firearms are so popular with my professional circle, it would probably be easy to simply sell it to someone I already know.

Probably all I would do is the same I have done when I have sold motor vehicles. In Florida, the tag stays with the vehicle's current owner, so a private-sale vehicle is not registered to the buyer at the time of sale. I have allowed buyers to store them on my property until they come back with their tag, and I have had people just drive away in them with no tag. All I have done is had them sign a form stating they are assuming possession of the vehicle as of the date and time of the sale (recorded on the form), and I am not responsible for any use or misuse of it after that point.

I could see myself doing that in a FTF firearms sale, too, if it was to someone I did not know.
 
The guy brought up your divorce? My next contact would have had a few not so nice words and ending with a less polite way to say 'pound sand'
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Divorces in WI are public record and listed online. Anything, ever, with a written court record is listed for 5 years to forever in Wisconsin.

This guy somehow stretched divorce into something else entirely and said there must be something more to the story - as if 50% of marriages don't end divorce court.
 
Why does everyone suddenly feel they have a right or even a need to do background checks? Do you check the background of someone you are selling a car to to look for DUIs?
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I would guess it's ignorance of the law to start with, followed by an extreme fear that somehow if the person sells a gun to someone who misuses it, the seller is in "trouble"
 
A guy from Armslist recently declined to sell me a rifle due to a couple old "ordinance violations" on my court history. ...

He also made reference to my divorce...
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That guy is a disgrace. It's a shame he couldn't help but be so intrusively nosy about your character. You're better off not having put money in his pocket.
 
Most of the private sales I have made were to individuals I knew and associated with in firearms related groups. Never made a background check (which were unknown before Brady) and never had a problem.

Today if I was worried about all this (and I'm not) I would either restrict my selling to people I knew, or place the gun(s) on consignment with a retailer/FFL.

I think that in the end this would prove to be less expensive then making private background checks. Background checks do not keep prohibited persons from obtaining firearms - it simply changes the way they go about it.

Concerning the opening post: In the past I have sold guns to individuals who were divorced. Getting a divorce is not a criminal act that makes one a prohibited person.
 
I just ask the prospective buyer if they could pass a background check and ask to see a drivers license. I don't take or keep info on people. If someone seems shady then I would decline the sale but I wouldn't pry into their personal life.
 
Divorces in WI are public record and listed online.
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I don't care it its written on your forehead. Some things you don't bring up like that.


When I sell I ask to see a DL and vote-reg or CCW permit.
DL proves residency and age, vote-reg/CCW proves non-felon status. I dont take records. I've never had anyone tell me I'm asking too much, people have offered me more ID though lol.

When I buy I present my DL and CCW. For the same reasons.
 
I personally don't even ask to see ID every time. I typically just save the email traffic.

Wisconsin is very friendly to FTF sales. Even if sometime down the road, some law enforcement agency wants to know where xyz gun is, all I have to say is I sold it in accordance with state and federal law and I may or may not have the guy's name in my email.
 
If I sold a gun to someone I didn't know (I never have), asking to see a either a CHL or a voter's registration card tells me all I need to know... citizen of my state, no relevant criminal history.

The law only requires that I NOT have reason to believe they ARE prohibited; this would go above and beyond and gives me reason to believe they AREN'T.

I did once sell to a coworker I didn't know outside of work; but the fact he was allowed past the double doors into the office meant he had passed a criminal background check; once I sold a rifle to a guy I know casually, but I also knew he held a commercial license the State of Texas will not issue to a felon.

Simple prudence. I don't sell guns often, but when I do, I'm cautious. If it doesn't feel right, for a few hundred bucks, I'll keep the gun.
 
As long as I don't have reason to believe you're prohibited by law from possessing a firearm you get a gun my friend! :D Not my place to judge. Thomas Jefferson said every free man should be allowed to have a gun and I agree :)

Even if I had access to background checks I wouldn't bother, luckily I still live in a free state.
 
I would not be happy that he pryed I to my records that deep. Some people are just like that though. I would have used a few nice "exploitive deleted" words about his character...lol. Like others said, be glad you didn't give him money....
 
I would not be happy that he pryed I to my records that deep.
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It is a very easy "pry" - I'm just glad most people here wouldn't hold it against someone...if they even looked to begin with.

States like Wisconsin that are so open with records have a serious problem with job-seekers and potential employers...even with a non-discrimination disclaimer.
 
buyer: I want to buy your pistol
Me: Gotta CCW and FL DL?
buyer: Yes, see here they are.
Me: Okay.
Money and pistol change hands thanks for buying. Back ground check that is good enough for me.
 
This:
I just ask the prospective buyer if they could pass a background check and ask to see a drivers license.
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Followed by this:
but I wouldn't pry into their personal life.
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Yeah , you are kind of prying into peoples personal lives.

I am with coromo on this. I don't understand why people are trying to do bg checks on buyers or even trying to disqualify people in private sales. Just tell people you require an FFL transfer and go to the local LGS and have it done. Be done with it. You are not an FFL dealer so quit trying to act like it. This is becoming an epidemic. Somebody needs to start a character like gecko45 for all these wannabe FFL bg checkers. Give me a break!
 
Somebody needs to start a character like gecko45 for all these wannabe FFL bg checkers.
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You're almost giving me the idea to start a thread for that character. But mall-ninjas seem inherently funnier than an overzealous FTF seller.
 
I have sold many guns, but only once to a stranger. We exchanged DLs, the piece went through FFLs, and the only thing I asked him was "are you a US citizen and are you a felon?" I figured that was due diligence enough. Probably more than strictly necessary but it gave me peace of mind. No harm done.
 
A private individual ought to be able to sell or not sell whatever to whomever, as long as said item is legal for trade, without government interference. That said, there are many things that government has declared illegal for trade that it has no business being engaged in. Any of us could make a list.

The seller in the OP's case has a right to decline the sale if he dislikes a buyer's hair color or last name. As long as the seller has not voluntarily signed any sort of agreement to sell to whomever hands over the money, the declined buyer has no recourse, and that's how it should be.
 
buyer: I want to buy your pistol
Me: Gotta CCW and FL DL?
buyer: Yes, see here they are.
Me: Okay.
Money and pistol change hands thanks for buying. Back ground check that is good enough for me.
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Why does he need a CCW? What if he doesn't have one?
Do you do the same if you are selling a "tactical" knife?
 
No, I don't sell knives, what is a tactical knife? CCW for handgun just my personal requirement. FL DL for long guns. If the person does not have a CCW no handgun sold to that person by me.
These are only my opinions I have sold off almost all of the hand and long guns I owned. Most went at gun shows and most went to people that had FFLs or CRC licenses.
 
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